Wire-stretcher.



F. R. RICHARDS.

WIRE STRETGHBR.

APPLICATION IILED JULY 17, 1912.

1,055,354, Patented Mar. 11,1913.

Inventor Witne sses e Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK R. RICHARDS, 0F LEBANON, KANSAS.

WIRE-STRETCHER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK R. Rioimnos, acitizen of the United States, residing at Lebanon, in the county ofSmith and State of Kansas, have invented a new and usefulWire-Stretcher, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire stretchers, and aims primarily to providea wire stretcher adapted to be connected to a fence post or the like andto stretch a wire so as to draw the Wire past the post to which thestretcher is attached, in order that the wire may be stapled to the postin a convenient and efficient manner.

It is also the object of the present invention to provide a wirestretcher capable of stretching wires in various manners as will benecessary or beneficial in its use, and which may be employed fordrawing the adjoining ends of two wire strands together, in order thatthe ends may be readily connected or spliced.

This invention also contemplates the provision of a wire stretcher whichshall be simple, durable, substantial, compact and incX- pensive inconstruction, and which will be simple, convenient and eflicient inoperation.

With the foregoing general objects outlined, and other objects in view,which willbe apparent as the invention is better understood, the presentinvention resides in the novel construction, arrangement and combinationof 'parts hereinafter set forth and pointed out inthe appended claim, itbeing understood that changes in the precise embodiment of inventionherein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

The invention has been illustrated in its referred embodiment in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters have beenemployed to denote correspond ing parts, and wherein,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the wire stretcher as in use. Fig. 2is a f 'agmental detail of the stretcher.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the present invention embodiesin its essentials, a tubular body 3 through which a rod or shaft 4passes for sliding movements, and an actuating mechanism denotedgenerally by the numeral 5 carried by the body 3 and co-acting with therod 4: to slide same relative to the body, the body and rod havingSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 17, 1912.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

Serial No. 710,015.

gripping devices as hereinafter more fully pointed out.

The body 3 may be constructed of suitable piping or of any tubularmaterial, and is provided at its rear and front ends respectively, withthe heads 6 and 7, the said heads being preferably formed by fasteningcollars onto the ends of the body. The 11 aid 6 is provided at its sideswith the hooks 8 and is provided with a depending loop or eye 9, and thehead 7 is provided with an upstanding loop or eye 10 to which isattached a chain or flexible member 11. This chain 11 providespost-engaging means, the said chain being adapted to be looped or passedaround the post and then engaged to the hook 8 on the correspondingside, it being apparent that the body 8 may be arranged at either sideof the post which may be most convenient or to which side of the postthe wire is to be secured. The body 3 is also provided with an upperlongitudinal slot 12 for the purpose which will hereinafter appear.

The rod l may be constructed of any suitable stock, and is providedalong its upper portion with a series of ratchet teeth 13 adjoining theslot 12 in the body 3 and is provided along its bottom with alongitudinal featherway 14. A clevis 15 is pivoted to the rear end ofthe rod 4, and a hook 16 is carried by the rear end of the rod adjoiningthe clevis 15, the said hook having an eye or loop engaging the rod. Aclamp or gripping device 17 is connected to the clevis 15 by means of alink 18, the said gripping device and the gripping devices hereinafterreferred to being of any preferred construction. At its forward end, therod 4 is provided with a depending or radially projecting member 19, aclamp or gripping device 20 being connected to the free end of theprojection 19 by means of a link 21. A clamp or gripping device 22 isalso connected to the loop or eye 9 by means of a short length of chainor other flexible member 23.

A clip or strap 24 passes around the body 3 at the rear end of the slot12 and is provided at its ends with the upstanding ears 25, betweenwhich is pivoted a pawl 26 which passes through the slot 12 in order tocooperate with the ratchet teeth of the rod 4. The pawl or dog 26 isprovided with a tail 27 which is curved upwardly or backwardly for thepurpose which will hereinafter appear. A coiled wire compression spring28 is disposed between the tail of the pawl and the body 3 in order toforce the pawl into engagement with the ratchet teeth.

The mechanism carried by the body 3 for actuating the rod 4 comprises alever 29 pivoted or fulcrumed to the body 3, the lever 29 having theinner end thereof forked as designated by the numeral. 30 in order tostraddle the body 3. The lever or handle 29 projects upwardly from thebody, and the fork 30 is pivoted to the bearing 31 brazed, soldered orotherwise secured to the bottom of the body 3. The pawl or dog 32 ispivoted between the branches of the fork 30 and passes through the slot12 of the body to cooperatewith the ratchet teeth of the rod 4, the pawlor dog 26 being arranged in rear of the lever 29. It will thereforefollow, that when the lever 29 is oscillated, the rod 4 will be movedforwardly step by step as will be apparent. The pawl 32 is provided witha tail 33, the free end or terminal 34 of which is bent inwardly to forma stop which is adapted to strike or contact with the lever 29 when thelever is swung rearwardly sufficiently so as to lift or swing the pawl32 out of engagement with the ratchet teeth. A leaf spring 35 is alsocarried by the lever 29 and bears against the pawl 32 to serve as anexpedient for forcing the pawl into engagement with the ratchet teeth. Ascrew 36 is also passed through the bearing 31 and the bottom of thebody 3 to enter the featherway 14 so as to serve as a feather forconstraining the rod 4 against rotation.

The tail 27 of the pawl 26 is arranged in the path of the lever 29 or inthe path of the tail 33 of the pawl 32, so that when the le ver 29 isswung rearwardly to raise the pawl. 32 out of engagement with theratchet teeth, the tail 33 of the said pawl 32 will strike the tail 27of the pawl 26 and in turn lift the pawl 26 out of engagement with theratchet teeth, so that the rod 4 will be free to slide rearwardly. Itwill thus be observed, that to disengage the rod 4, the operator needmerely swing the lever 29 rearwardly to a suflicient extent, but it willbe noted that ordinarily, the rod will be locked against retrogrademovement by the pawl 26, the pawl32 serving to move the rod 4 forwardlyin a step by step movement as the lever 29 is oscillated.

The present device may be employed in various capacities and manners,examples of which are described directly.

WVhen a wire strand is to be stretched and stapled or secured to a post,the body 3 is located on the proper side of the post and the chain 11 isthen looped around the post and engaged to the corresponding hook 8, theclamp 17 then being engaged to the wire strand and the lever 29 beingoscillated to force the rod 4 forwardly so as to give the strand itsinitial stretching action. After the rod 4 has been forced forwardly asfar as it will move, or to its forward limit, the clamp 22 is swungrearwardly and is engaged to the wire strand. in rear of the clamp 17,the chain 23 being drawn taut prior to attaching the clamp 22. The clamp17 is then released, which throws the entire strain on the chain 23, andthe lever 29 may then be moved rearwardly to disengage the pawls andpermit the rod 4 to be slid rearwardly again, in which event, the clamp17 may be engaged to the wire strand at a new position rearwardlyrelative to the clamp 22. The clamp 22 is then disengaged and theoscillation of the lever 2929 is repeated. This operation may berepeated until the wire strand has been sufficiently stretched or drawntaut, in which event, the free portion of the wire strand is engaged bythe clamp 20 carried by the forward end of the rod 4 and is also passedover the'hook 16. The clamp 17 may then be released, and the rod 4 maythen be forced forwardly slightly to draw the wire strand tightly'beyondthe post, so that the wire strand may be stapled or otherwise secured tothe post in a convenient and efficient manner. With the operation asdescribed, a single operator may stretch the wire and secure same to thepost without encountering any difficulty, whereas with the block andtackle and similar devices, two or more operators are necessary, and thestretching of the wire and securement thereof to the post is renderedless eflicient and convenient.

When the device is to be employed for drawing the ends of two strandstogether for purpose of splicing, the clamp 22 is engaged to one end andthe clamp 17 is engaged to the other end, the chain 11 being passedaround the corresponding end and the body 3 to prevent the body fromswinging away from the strands as its tendency will be. The lever 29 maythen be oscillated to slide the rod forwardly which will serve to drawthe ends of the strands together so that they may be readily andconveniently spliced.

From the brief descriptions of the two uses of the device, other usesand capabilities will be apparent, and it will also be apparent that theobjects aimed at are attained in a satisfactory manner, the presentdevice providing a desirable one for the purposes for which it isdesigned.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is A wirestretcher embodying a body, a member slidably engaging the same andhaving ratchet teeth, a lever pivoted to the body, a pawl pivoted to thelever to cooperate with the ratchet teeth and having a tail theextremity of the tail being bent inwardly to provide a stop arranged tostrike the lever whenthe lever is swung rearwardly so as to swing thepawl out of engagement with the ratchet teeth, a pawl pivoted to thebody in rear of the lever to cooperate with the ratchet teeth and havinga backwardly curved tail lying in the path of the tail of theaforementioned pawl so that the latter pawl is raised out of engagementwith the ratchet teeth When the lever is swung rearin the presence oftwo witnesses.

FRANK R. RICHARDS. WVitnesses:

T. J. Fun, A. LULL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G."

